Letter-box



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. BROWN, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

LETTER-BOX.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 34,940, dated -April15, 1862.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN XV. BROWN, of the city, county, and State ofNew York,have invented a new and Improved Letter-Box for the Post-0fliceDepartment and Designed for City Use in Streets; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure I is a vertical central section of myinvention, taken 'in the line am, Fig. 3; Fig. 2, the same view as Fig.l, showing the movable parts in a different position. Fig. 3 is asection of same taken in thev line y y, Fig. l; Fig. 4:, a detached faceView of a toothed or serrated edge of an opening of saine.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts in theseveral igures.

This invention relates to a new and improved letteiwbox of that classwhich is attached to lamp-posts or other convenient lixtures in streetsto receive letters for the general postoft`1ce.

The object of the invention is to obtain a box which will admit oftheletters Vbeing deposited in it with great facility, and from whichthey cannotbe illegitimately abstracted, and still be exceedingly simplein construction, not liable to get out of repair, nor capable of beingchoked or clogged, so as to be rendered inoperative by the insertion ofpackages or parcels of undue size.

To enable those skilled in the art 4to fully understand and construct myinvention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the upper part of a box, which may be of any convenientsize, and B is a hollow cylinder, which is attached to the upper part ofthe box A, and communicates with the interior of A by an opening a. Thecylinder B also has an opening Z7 made in its upper part, the use ofwhich will be presently explained. The cylinderB has a semi-cylinder Cfitted on it. The semi-cylinder C is movable or is allowedto turn on anaxis, which is formed of two pins or journals c c, which pass throughthe centers of the ends d d of the cylinder B, the latter beingstationary. The semi-cylinder C is loaded or has weights attached, so asto keep itin the position shown in Fig. 2, which position, it Will beseen, covers the hole or opening l) in the cylinder C. One

function, therefore, of the semi-cylinder is Shown.

Iithin the cylinder B there is placed another cylinder D, which hasthepins or journals c c for its axis. The semi-cylinder C and cylinderD, therefore, have a common axis, and they are connected by pins c e-oneat each side-which pins pass through curved slots ff in the ends d d ofcylinder B. The curved slots f f admit of the inner cylinderD andsemi-cylinder C turning a distance equal to the length of the slots. Theinner cylinder" D has two Iixed partitions g g within it, which form acentral chamber E, one end of which is open, as shown at h. The chamberE is equal in width to the length of the cylinder D, and the length ordepth of the former is equal to the diameter of the latter.

Vithin the chalnber'E there is a flap or valve F, which extends thewhole length-or depth of the chamber and has its back end secured in thechamber by pivotsz'. The flap or valve F has a pin j attached to eachside of it, and these pins pass through curved slots k 7c in the ends lZ of the inner cylinder D, and also pass through curved slots m m in theends CZ d of the cylinder B, the slots m m being concentric with theslots f f, as shown clearly by the dotted lines in Figs. l and 2.

rlhe operation is as follows: In order to deposit the letter in the boxA, the operator turns the semi-cylinder C, so as to expose the opening bin cylinder B, and by so doing brings the open end h of the chamber E inline with the openingh in cylinder B,as shown in Fig. l. The package orletter is inserted in the chamber E and the operator releases thesemi-cylinder C, which, with cylinder D, turns back to its originalposition, the former covering the opening h, and the open end or mouthof chamber E coming in line with the opening of., so that the package orletter will drop from chamber E into box A.

The liap or valve F performs an important function, as follows: When themouth h of chamber E is in line with the opening b, the flap or valve Fis about parallel with the lower side or partition g of the chamber, andthe flap or valve cannot be moved farther outward or upward from saidside or partition, as the pins ,7' are restricted in their upwardmovement by the slots.m mi. The flap o1' valve F, therefore, determinesor limits the dimensions of the chamber E when the'latter is in aposition to receive the package or letter. When, however, the chamber Ereaches its discharging position, the flap or valve F is at liberty tomove outward from the side or partition g a distance equal to the lengthof the slots la k, (see Fig. 2,) and the chamber E being therebyenlarged the package or letterdrops freely from it. Thus it will be seenthat the chamber E cannot become choked or clogged by pressing packagesor bundles of letters in E, for the dimensions of the latter may, bymeans of the Hap or valve F, be increased when in a dischargingposition.

The lower opening a of the cylinder B has ya toothed or serrated edge nat its front side. .This notch or serrated edge extends the whole widthof said opening (see Fig. et) and serves to prevent letters or packagesbeing abstracted from the box A by means of a hook and line, for theserrated edge will catch theto prevent the abstraction of letters .fromthe box. These iiaps or valves would 1n a majority of cases serve as anobstruction to the raising of aletter by means of a hook and cord, asthe letter in being drawn up would catch against their lower edges andthe valves would close by the raising of the letter. To insure thisresult, the valves are not allowed to assume a vertical but aslightly-inclined position, in consequence of bearings bX d1- rectlybehind them. (See Figs. l and 2.) These valves, however, may be used ornot, as desired.

I do not claim separately any of the withindescribed parts; but

I do claim as new and desire to secure ,by Letters Patent- 1 1. Thevalve F, in combination with the chamber E, cylinder D B, andvsemi-cylinder C, the cylinder B being provided with the openings a b,and all arranged for joint operation, as and for the purpose herein setforth.

, 2. The toothed or serrated edge fn. of the opening al of cylinder B,when used in connection with the semi-cylinder C, and cylinder D,provided with the chamber E and valve F. for thep'urpose specified.

J. W. BROWN.

Witnesses:

RICHARDSON GAWLEY, J AMES LAIRD.

